Real Life Stories of Disaster and Survival
Humans have a knack for resilience and survival. As we endure yet another terrifying season of storms, wildfires, and overall damaging effects from climate change, we look to the past to guide us. Below are some great reads of true stories about natural disasters and survival, from famines and fires to hurricanes and tsunamis, along with some books about a more sterile side to catastrophe: the logistics behind financial compensation in the wake of a disaster, and how to harness the past to create a better future.
While famine can be triggered by nature, it more often arises out of mishandled politics and poor ideology. In Three Famines, Thomas Keneally digs into this idea, noting that, historically, widespread hunger is the outcome of government neglect, racism, and administrative incompetence. The book's narrative focuses on three major famines in human history: the potato famine in Ireland, the Bengal famine in 1943, and the Ethiopian famines of the 1970s and '80s.
In Sudden Sea, R.A. Scotti delves into the massive destruction left in the wake of the Hurricane of 1939—the worst, most financially destructive natural disaster in U.S. history, wreaking havoc across seven states in New England. Its damages dwarfed those of the Chicago Fire, the San Francisco Earthquake, and the Mississippi floods of 1927. The book draws on newspapers, eyewitnesses, and archival footage to retell the story of the Great Hurricane.
In the aftermath of every disaster—natural and human-made—is compensation for the lives lost, bodies maimed, livelihoods wrecked, economies upended, and ecosystems devastated. From Agent Orange to 9/11, from the Virginia Tech massacre to the 2008 financial crisis, an objective third party had to figure out the allocation of funds. Who Gets What is Kenneth R. Feinberg's tome about compensation for disasters, covering the deep thought that goes into the decision and why monetary compensation is even necessary.
Worst of Days: Inside the Black Saturday Firestorm by Karen Kissane (9780733626630)
In February 2009, Australia was on fire. The brushfires were so huge, burning 1,100,000 acres of land in Victoria, that the day was named Black Saturday. Karen Kissane’s Worst of Days is a narrative account of the people who were there for one of the brushfires, the Kilmore blaze. It’s the story of what humans—heroes and monsters, survivors and lost souls—do at the worst of times, from the man who braved the flames to help a friend to the man who refused to cover the face of a dead man.
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Ashley Holstrom is a book person, designing them and writing about them for Book Riot. She lives near Chicago with her cat named after Hemingway and her bookshelves organized by color.